The nine-headed Firecloud Grand Chariot was parked on the Floating Sky Island.
Gu Qingfeng was sleeping in the chariot's bedroom, while Little Qianniao was in the quiet chamber tempering that Blue Moon Sword.
Horse King sat cross-legged in the chariot's main hall, consolidating his cultivation level.
Although Gu Qingfeng had previously gifted him an innate-grade Immortal Weapon and Immortal Armor, Horse King did not immediately temper them like Qianniao.
He had cultivated for over a thousand years and had wandered the Great Wilderness for many years. He clearly understood that while Immortal Weapons and Magical Treasures could enhance one's strength, ultimately, one's own foundation must be solid. Having Immortal Weapons and Magical Treasures without powerful cultivation to support them meant one could not unleash their true power, ending up as nothing but an empty shell with a flashy exterior.
Moreover, tempering Immortal Weapons and Magical Treasures was not something that could be accomplished overnight. It required countless years of accumulation and daily tempering, much like cultivating an Immortal Spirit.
Therefore,
Horse King was in no hurry.
Furthermore,
The Golden Crow Li Clan could come knocking at any moment. He wasn't in the mood to temper Immortal Weapons and Magical Treasures and could only focus on consolidating his cultivation for now.
If the Golden Crow Li Clan really did show up, he would assess the situation first. If things turned dire, he would just fight those bastards to the death.
Horse King was truly prepared for this.
It wasn't that he didn't want to run. If he could have run, he would have done so long ago and wouldn't be staying here, living in constant fear.
Glancing towards the chariot's bedroom, Horse King felt nothing but profound admiration for Gu Qingfeng.
The Golden Crow Li Clan could arrive at any moment, and this guy could still sleep?
He truly couldn't understand how this Grand Lord's heart could be so vast.
Relying on those few Immortal Talismans in his hand?
Or relying on the Xiaoluo Secret Realm?
Neither was reliable!
They were simply no match for the Golden Crow Li Clan.
Sigh!
Horse King shook his head, stopping his wild thoughts. He pondered that relying on anyone was worse than relying on oneself.
But then again,
Relying on himself was useless too.
With his limited abilities, he could manage against those from the Golden Crow Secret Realm, but facing the young masters of the Golden Crow Li Clan, he would only be on the receiving end of a beating.
Although Horse King was also a Grand Luo Golden Immortal,
It sounded quite impressive.
But that was only in name.
Forget the Great Wilderness, forget the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain; even in this Fengyue Small World, Grand Luo Golden Immortals were as common as dirt, nothing rare.
In the ten thousand years of the Modern Era, as long as one wasn't a fool, even without spending Immortal Stones, one could slowly grind their way to becoming a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
This was no exaggeration. Horse King was a prime example. He wasn't from a great clan, nor did he have Immortal Stones to spend. All his cultivation resources were painstakingly accumulated through his own life-and-death struggles outside, slowly cultivating until he became a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
Grand Luo Golden Immortal was a threshold, a mountain.
Among the immortals of the Great Wilderness, eight or nine out of ten were trapped on this Grand Luo Mountain. Some were stuck for a hundred years, some for a thousand, even ten thousand years, or tens of thousands of years. Trying to cross this threshold, to climb over this Grand Luo Mountain, was harder than ascending to heaven.
As the saying goes, the Grand Luo Mountain has eighty-one heavens.
Each heaven contains ten realms, each realm contains a hundred boundaries, each boundary contains a thousand comprehensions, each comprehension contains ten thousand mysteries, and each mystery contains a billion subtleties.
Meaning, the Grand Luo Golden Immortal's eighty-one heavens, each heaven contains ten realms, a hundred boundaries, a thousand comprehensions, ten thousand mysteries, and a billion subtleties.
One can imagine how difficult it is to break through a single heaven.
The path of Immortal Dao.
True Immortal, Upper Immortal, even Golden Immortal—perhaps one could grind them out or use various resources to force a breakthrough.
But upon reaching the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm, one couldn't grind it out, nor could resources force a breakthrough.
For a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, first, it depends on one's innate talent and comprehension; second, it depends on one's fortune and opportunities.
If one's talent is lacking, grinding for a hundred thousand years won't produce results. If one's comprehension is lacking, no amount of resources will force a breakthrough.
Horse King had cultivated for over a thousand years, and to this day, he had only climbed to the sixth realm of the third heaven on this Grand Luo Mountain. And this was only because he had been lucky back then, encountering a rather good fortuitous opportunity, which allowed him to reach his current cultivation level.
It must be known that most of the Grand Luo Golden Immortals who started around the same time as him were still stuck at the first heaven, at most the second heaven.
Back then, the reason Horse King could thrive in the Golden Crow Secret Realm was also because of his cultivation level, which was proudly superior to other mortal immortals.
However,
A person's strength is not solely determined by cultivation level. Besides cultivation, one must also consider a person's destiny, divine abilities, and magical treasures.
Destiny is something one encounters by chance, not something one can seek.
Ordinary people simply don't have it.
Horse King had cultivated for over a thousand years and didn't even know what destiny looked like.
Therefore,
More often, it depends on one's divine abilities and wondrous techniques, as well as Immortal Weapons and Magical Treasures.
Divine abilities and wondrous techniques also place high demands on talent and comprehension, and they are not easy to cultivate. Over the years, although Horse King had cultivated a few divine abilities and wondrous techniques, most were just minor tricks, utterly unfit for major occasions. The only one he had cultivated decently was the Eight Desolations Sword Art, which he had relied on all these years to make a living.
That wasn't important.
The important thing was, ever since Horse King became addicted to gambling, he had lost almost all the Magical Treasures he could gamble away. The only flying sword he had left was defective, occasionally malfunctioning.
In his current state, forget about opponents of the same realm; even if he encountered a Grand Luo Golden Immortal of a lower realm, if the other party had tempered a relatively good Immortal Weapon or Magical Treasure, he would still be no match.
A high-quality Immortal Weapon or Magical Treasure could absolutely greatly enhance one's strength. If it was a ranked Immortal Weapon or Magical Treasure, even if only low-grade, its power should not be underestimated.
For example, if Horse King successfully tempered the innate low-grade great sword Gu Qingfeng bought for him, with his cultivation at the sixth realm of the third heaven, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage against a Grand Luo Golden Immortal at the ninth realm of the third heaven. However, facing a Grand Luo Golden Immortal at the minor completion or great completion of the third heaven would likely be tough.
As for a Grand Luo Golden Immortal of the fourth heaven, needless to say.
Each heaven on the Grand Luo Mountain might sound like a small gap, but that was only in name. In reality, the difference between two heavens was greater than the gap between an Upper Immortal and a Golden Immortal, or even between a Golden Immortal and a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
Because the Grand Luo's eighty-one heavens, each breakthrough to a new heaven would cause changes in one's Immortal Spirit and even physical body. This change was not quantitative but qualitative. The first heaven of Grand Luo was the Minor Righteous Heaven, the second was the Departing Evolution Heaven, the third was the Pure Vigor Heaven, tempering the method of pure vigor. The fourth heaven of Grand Luo was the Illusory Radiance Heaven, tempering the method of illusory radiance.
A second-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal could single-handedly fight two or three first-heaven great completion Grand Luo Golden Immortals without being at a disadvantage.
A third-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal could single-handedly crush two or three first-heaven great completion Grand Luo Golden Immortals.
A fourth-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal could single-handedly annihilate two or three first-heaven great completion Grand Luo Golden Immortals!
Typically, the higher the realm, the stronger the Immortal Spirit, and the more powerful the Immortal Law force.
The gap between them could hardly be bridged by innate-grade Immortal Weapons alone.
Of course,
Nothing in the world is absolute.
A first-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal wielding an innate-grade Immortal Weapon might not necessarily lose to a second-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
In the Great Wilderness, anything was possible. It wasn't unheard of for a first-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal, relying on their own great destiny, to suppress a second-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal until they couldn't move. Nor was it unheard of for a first-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal, holding an innate Immortal Weapon, to slay a third-heaven Grand Luo Golden Immortal with a single sword strike.